Midwest Generation

Midwest Generation, LLC was formed on July 12, 1999 and is a subsidiary of Edison International. Midwest Generation is "a Delaware limited liability company with Edison Mission Midwest Holdings Co. as the sole owner. Edison Mission Midwest Holdings is a wholly owned subsidiary of Midwest Generation EME, LLC, which is in turn a wholly owned subsidiary of EME. EME is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Edison International."

Existing Coal Plants
More about the plants:


 * "The Crawford Station is located in Cook County, Illinois, and is within the city limits of Chicago. The Crawford Station occupies approximately 72 acres, inclusive of the switchyard. The operating units are referred to as Units 7 and 8 and began operations in 1958 and 1961, respectively. Southern PRB coal is loaded into barges at the Will County Station and delivered by barge primarily on a "just-in-time" basis supported by Crawford's on-site storage. Natural gas is used for ignition and combustion support and for full boiler operation, when economical. Peoples Energy Corporation delivers natural gas under a delivery contract that includes balancing storage, which is also shared by the Fisk Station."


 * "The Fisk Station is located in Cook County, Illinois, and is within the city limits of Chicago. The Fisk Station is located on approximately 44 acres, inclusive of the switchyard. The operating unit comprising the Fisk Station is referred to as Unit 19 and began operations in 1959. Southern PRB coal is loaded into barges at the Will County Station, delivered by barge on a "just-in-time" basis. Natural gas is used for ignition and combustion support and for full boiler operation, when economical. Peoples Gas delivers natural gas under a delivery contract that includes balancing storage, which is shared by the Crawford Station."


 * "The Joliet Station is located in Joliet, Will County, Illinois, approximately 40 miles southwest of Chicago on an approximately 467-acre site. The operating units comprising the Joliet Station are referred to as Units 6, 7 and 8. Only Units 7 and 8 are subject to the leveraged lease transaction described in this annual report. The operation of Units 6, 7 and 8 began in 1959, 1965 and 1966, respectively. Joliet Unit 6 is a 290 MW coal-fired unit located adjacent to, but across the Des Plaines River from, Joliet Units 7 and 8. Joliet Units 7 and 8 are coal-fired and have a combined capacity of 1,036 MW. The Joliet Station burns Southern PRB coal which is shipped by rail. With the completion of a new rail spur in early 2003, direct deliveries are received from the Union Pacific Railroad. Natural gas is delivered for the boilers as a startup and stabilizing fuel by Nicor Gas Company under a delivery contract."


 * "The Powerton Generating Station is located in Pekin, Tazwell County, Illinois, approximately 16 miles southwest of Peoria or 166 miles from Chicago on an approximately 568-acre site. The Powerton Station is subject to the leveraged lease transaction described in this annual report. The site also includes an approximately 1,440-acre lake. The operating units comprising the Powerton Station are referred to as Units 5 and 6 and began operations in 1972 and 1975, respectively. The Powerton Station burns Southern PRB coal which is shipped by rail by the Illinois and Midland Railroad Company from interchange points with the Union Pacific Railroad."


 * "The Waukegan Generating Station is located in Waukegan, Lake County, Illinois, on Lake Michigan. The Waukegan Station occupies approximately 194 acres, inclusive of the switchyard. The operating units comprising the Waukegan Station are referred to as Units 7 and 8 and began operations in 1958 and 1962, respectively. Midwest Generation shut down permanently Unit 6, representing 100 MW of capacity, on December 21, 2007. Unit 7 utilizes oil or natural gas and Unit 8 utilizes natural gas for ignition and startup. The Waukegan Station burns Southern PRB coal, which is shipped by rail by the Union Pacific Railroad."


 * "The Will County Station is located in Romeoville, Will County, Illinois. The Will County Station is located on approximately 215 acres, inclusive of the switchyard. The operating units comprising the Will County Station are referred to as Units 1, 2, 3 and 4 and began operations between 1955 and 1963. Beginning in January 2003, operations at Units 1 and 2 were suspended pending improvement in market conditions. In late 2004, both units were returned to service. Midwest Generation has agreed with the Illinois EPA to shut down permanently Units 1 and 2 on or before December 31, 2010. The Will County Station burns Southern PRB coal, which is shipped by rail by the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway Company from interchange points with the Union Pacific Railroad. The Will County Station uses No. 2 fuel oil for ignition and combustion support, which is delivered by tanker truck to a 100,000 gallon on-site storage tank."


 * "On September 30, 2004, Midwest Generation permanently ceased operations at the Collins Station and all units were decommissioned on or before December 31, 2004. The Collins Station was a 2,698 MW gas and oil-fired power plant located in Grundy County, near Morris, Illinois."

Coal unit closures
As part of a 2006 agreement with the state of Illinois, the company said it plans to shut down the three smallest generating units in its fleet -- two units at the Will County Generating Station in Romeoville and one at its Waukegan Generating Station -- between the end of 2007 and the end of 2010. The company also has committed that its smallest plant -- the single-unit Fisk Generating Station in Chicago -- will either have additional controls for sulfur dioxide emissions or be shut down by the end of 2015. The same agreement to shut down or install additional controls applies to the Waukegan Generating Station by the end of 2014 and to the Crawford Generating Station in Chicago by the end of 2018.

Pollution control upgrades
In late 2010, Midwest secured state permits to install pollution-control equipment that would reduce soot- and smog-forming emissions from its six coal-fired power plants. In recently filed documents discovered in February 2011, however, Midwest Generation signaled it might delay installing pollution controls at its plants "for the maximum time available." The documents, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, said whether the company actually makes the $1.2 billion investment depends in part on "regulatory and legislative developments," according to its latest financial documents. The documents conveyed a starkly different message from public statements by Midwest Generation executives, who have pledged to make "meaningful improvements in the environmental performance of our plants."

Doug McFarlan, a company spokesman, said Midwest Generation still is committed to an agreement with state regulators that calls for each of its plants to be cleaned up or shut down by 2018. The company is holding off on firm decisions until the federal EPA completes work on various anti-pollution regulations, he said.

The company's six coal plants — in Chicago's Little Village and Pilsen neighborhoods, Joliet, Romeoville, Waukegan and downstate Pekin — are among the region's biggest sources of smog- and soot-forming sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. They also are some of the top sources of toxic mercury that contaminates fish in the Great Lakes and other waterways.

2010 report: Chicago's Fisk and Crawford Plants cost public up to $1 billion since 2002
On October 20, 2010, the Environmental Law and Policy Center released a study, ELPC Report Finds Chicago Coal Plants Caused Up To $1 Billion in Health Damages Since 2002 finding Midwest Generation's Crawford and Fisk coal plants in Pilsen and Little Village may have caused between $750 million and $1 billion in public health related damages since 2002. The plants operate on equipment built between 1958 and 1961 and skirt Federal Clean Air Act regulations since they were built before 1976. The report uses data culled from various sources such as a 2010 National Research Council study and the Harvard School of Public Health’s Illinois Power Plant Study.

According to the study, the plants cause more than $127 million in 2010 dollars in health damages yearly, based on 2005 emissions. Particulate matter released into the air causes cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, heart attacks, premature death and more. A spokeswoman for Midwest Generation told WBEZ that there is no tie between the plants and public health, putting the blame on traffic instead. The ELPC supports the Chicago Clean Power ordinance, which would require Midwest Generation to reduce PM pollution within 4 years. Howard Learner, executive director for the ELPC, said via press release “Soot and smog from Chicago coal plants is making us sick and costing us millions. Cleaning them up is the right thing to do for our health, our environment and our economy.”

2010 report: Waukegan cost public up to $620 million since 2002
According to a 2010 report by the Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC), "Midwest Generation’s “Unpaid Health Bills”: The Hidden Public Costs of Soot and Smog From the Waukegan Coal Plant in Illinois Total $520 - $690 Million Since 2002" pollution from Midwest Generation’s Waukegan Generating Station has caused between $520 million and $690 million in public health damages since 2002. The report uses data from the National Research Council finding that particulate matter (soot), from the Waukegan coal plant creates about $86 million in health and related damages annually. The Waukegan coal plant is located on the Lake Michigan shoreline in Northeastern Illinois, about 40 miles north of Chicago and 50 miles south of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. More than 67,000 people live within three miles of the plant. The plant still operates using equipment built between 1958 and 1963, and Midwest Generation, the plant’s owner, has not installed modern pollution controls such as scrubbers.

ELPC’s report examines recent scientific research on the health effects of soot and smog pollution from coal plants. Numerous authoritative scientific panels have found that particulate matter pollution from coal plants harms public health, causing various health detriments including premature death, heart attacks, and cardiovascular and respiratory disease. The personal hardship and economic impact of these health problems is borne by the public. In 2006, after a public advocacy campaign by ELPC and other health and environmental and children’s advocacy groups, the Illinois Pollution Control Board ordered Midwest Generation to reduce toxic mercury emissions at Waukegan and other coal plants in Northern Illinois. A related order requires Midwest Generation to reduce sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide pollution at the Waukegan coal plant by the end of 2014.

Coal lobbying
Midwest Generation is a member of the American Coal Ash Association (ACAA), an umbrella lobbying group for all coal ash interests that includes major coal burners Duke Energy, Southern Company and American Electric Power as well as dozens of other companies. The group argues that the so-called "beneficial-use industry" would be eliminated if a "hazardous" designation was given for coal ash waste.

ACAA set up a front group called Citizens for Recycling First, which argues that using toxic coal ash as fill in other products is safe, despite evidence to the contrary.

Midwest Generation's Crawford and Fisk Plants and Environmental Justice
Both Midwest Generation's Crawford Generating Station and Fisk Generating Station are located on the lower west side of Chicago, in the predominantly Latino areas of Pilsen and Little Village, as well as nearby neighborhoods with a significant population of African Americans, raising issues around environmental justice and coal. Within miles of each plant are homes, parks, schools, etc. Crawford and Fisk are among over 100 coal plants near residential areas.

Citizen groups and EPA to file suit against Edison subsidiary Midwest Generation
In July 2009, five groups of environmental and public health advocates announced their intent to file a Clean Air Act lawsuit against Edison International subsidiary Midwest Generation. The groups say Midwest's six Illinois power plants are decades old and do not have the appropriate pollution controls according to EPA standards. Specifically, the lawsuit will focus on opacity violations, a measurement of the light blocked by particulate matter from smokestacks at Midwest's Crawford, Fisk, Joliet, Powerton, Waukegan, and Will County stations.

The concerned groups include Citizens Against Ruining the Environment, the Environmental Law and Policy Center, Natural Resources Defense Council, the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago, and Sierra Club. The six power plants in question are located in working class and minority neighborhoods, raising concerns about environmental justice. The groups expect to file suit in 60 days, unless Midwest Generation comes into compliance or stops operating, or unless the EPA takes other measures. Shannon Fisk, an attorney for NRDC, described Midwest's Fisk and Crawford plants as, "two dinosaurs in the middle of a large city. They should have cleaned up decades ago. Running those plants is inexpensive for the company, but it's very expensive for public health." A 2001 study by a professor at the Harvard University School of Public Health found that particulate matter from the Fisk and Crawford plants contributes to 41 deaths, 550 emergency room visits, and 2800 asthma attacks each year.

Midwest spokesman Doug MacFarlan said the company is being targeted unfairly, and that Midwest's plants release less particulate matter than most. He also said the company had responded to local complaints by reducing both the amount of coal piled up at Crawford and the dust that blows off barges transporting its coal. "We really believe we have demonstrated environmental responsibility at those plants," McFarlan said. In 2006, Midwest made an agreement with the state of Illinois to reduce emissions at its coal plants. The company has installed mercury controls, but has not decided whether to install scrubbers or shut the plants down. The company has until 2015 to install scrubbers at its Fisk plant and until 2018 at its Crawford plant.

On August 28, 2009, less than a month after the lawsuit was filed, the EPA, Department of Justice, and state of Illinois announced that they would also be filing suit against Midwest Generation for illegal emissions of particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide.

October 24, 2009: Activists protest outside Fisk Generating Station in Chicago, IL
Hundreds of activists gathered to march and rally in front of the Fisk Generating Station in Chicago, IL to observe an international day of action on climate change. At the protest, eight people locked arms and sat down in front of the power plant. All eight were issued citations.



August 2010: Edison works out plan to clean up Midwest plants
In August 2010, after posting a second-quarter profit that missed expectations, Edison International said it will soon decide on a program to cut sulfur dioxide emissions at its Illinois power plants at a maximum cost of $1.2 billion. Edison's Midwest Generation unit must cut mercury, nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, and particulate, or soot, emissions at the plants, under an agreement with the state. The company has installed equipment to cut mercury emissions at the plants and received state approval to install equipment to cut nitrogen oxide emissions, said Edison Chief Executive Ted Craver. Next, the company will make a final decision on a project to cut sulfur dioxide emissions at the plants, and has decided to use a technology that uses dry sodium sorbent to reduce the sulfur dioxide emissions, although the company hasn't decided how many plants will be upgraded with the equipment. If the company installed the equipment at all six plants it would cost a projected $1.2 billion. The company plans to start engineering work and seek construction permits for the project in late 2010.

October 13, 2010: Protesters rally to shut down Chicago Power Plants
On October 13, 2010 protesters in Chicago rallied to shut down Chicago's two coal-fired power plants, Fisk Generating Station in Pilsen and Crawford Generating Station in Little Village. Midwest Generation, a subsidiary of Edison International, owns the plants.

“This is the year we’re going to end coal in Chicago,” said Chicago author Jeff Biggers.

Greenpeace and the Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization (PERRO) organized the Chicago Clean Power Coalition rally at Alivio Medical Center.

A group of people in T-shirts lettered with “Quit Coal” and wearing green cardboard oxygen masks stood outside in the hot sun to listen to speakers explain why clean air is so important. “This is the year the next governor and the next mayor will announce that these [plants] are shutting down,” Biggers said.

The coalition sought to raise awareness about pollution that is emitted from both power plants, which are located in dense urban areas.

2010: United States Files Clean Air Act Complaint Against Homer City Power Plant
On January 11, 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a Clean Air Act complaint on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency against Midwest Generation and Edison International over their Homer City Generating Station, a coal-fired power plant in Homer City, Indiana County, Pennsylvania.

According to the complaint filed by the EPA, beginning in 1990 operators of the Homer City Power Plant violated the Clean Air Act New Source Review requirements by making major modifications to the boiler units at the power plant and continuing to operate without first obtaining appropriate permits and installing and operating the best available pollution control technologies to reduce sulfur dioxide and particulate matter.

In addition, the complaint alleged that the plant operators had not disclosed the plant’s major modifications, the need for best available control technologies, nor the appropriate emissions limits in their request for a Title V operating permit from Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection. Also, the defendants’ Title V permit did not include the required limits on emissions that would be achieved using the best available pollution control technologies.

States join Homer suit
In February 2011, New Jersey joined in the lawsuit filed by the federal government, New York, and Pennsylvania, asking the court to shut down the plant until it meets standards of the Clean Air Act, as well as civil penalties and other relief. A spokesman for owner Edison Mission Energy has said the company spent about $300 million since its 1999 purchase to reduce emissions and that violations occurred before it acquired the facility.

Contact details
Midwest Generation, LLC One Financial Place 440 South LaSalle Street, Suite 3500 Chicago, Illinois 60605 Phone: (312) 583-6000

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